D&AD Awards Burnett's 'Recipeace' New Social Impact Prize

Leo Burnett Chicago won D&AD's inaugural White Pencil, a new prize that recognizes social impact in marketing from the prestigious U.K. award show.

The winning campaign was "Recipeace," a movement designed to unite people over a shared meal. Leo Burnett brought together Muslim and Jewish organizations over lunch in Chicago to discuss conflict in the Middle East, creating an event where connections were made and minds changed. The concept was extended to restaurants around Chicago, which joined in by creating special menu items, using "Recipeace" flags as dinner napkins, and serving "Recipeace" olive oil, an alternative version of the traditional olive branch of peace.

Judges for the award, sponsored by Unilever, included David Droga, creative chairman of Droga 5; David Jones, CEO of Havas; and Marc Mathieu, SVP marketing at Unilever. The group of ten judges met to decide the winner from 19 short-listed campaigns. Three were nominated for the top honor: "Recipeace," "Blood Relations" from Baumann Ber Rivnay Saatchi & Saatchi Israel, and "The Peace Flag," a collaborative effort by a group of creatives.

The first White Pencil was awarded last night during a special event at the Royal Institution, an organization devoted to scientific endeavor that has been on the same site in London since 1799. There were cocktails, brief speeches and then the presentation, followed by a VIP reception.

Tim Lindsay, CEO of D&AD, said, "This was a step in the dark. It's important that D&AD is seen to champion this kind of work, and we've had really good feedback about the event. We had the idea too late to fold it into our 50th birthday celebrations, but in future it will be tied into the main awards in June."

Unilever SVP marketing Marc Mathieu said in a statement, "Brands and marketing have a responsibility to inspire positive change in people's lives. We believe in the power of creativity to make that happen. That's why our long-term partnership with D&AD and the White Pencil is so exciting."

Jeremy Gilley, founder of Peace One Day, helped to create the White Pencil award, and this year, all the entries were connected with the annual Peace One Day event in September. In future, however, any work with a positive social or environmental outcome will be eligible to enter. The winner and two nominations can be viewed here.